Jim Awtrey, a Shawnee, Oklahoma native, played collegiate golf at the University of Oklahoma and went on to play on the PGA Tour. He would later return to coach the Sooners from 1972-77. However, Awtrey’s biggest contributions to the game of golf came during his time working for the PGA of America.

He left the job at Oklahoma to go on to serve in a variety of different positions for the PGA, such as treasurer and president of the South Central PGA section, PGA Tournament Manager, and Executive Director before becoming the organization’s first CEO in 1993. He served as CEO for twelve years until he retired in 2005.

Under his leadership, the PGA focused on growing the game. They were able to grow the popularity of both the Ryder Cup and PGA Championship while increasing the television exposure of the game tenfold from 1986 to 2005. Membership grew from 15,000 to 27,000 in his time as CEO. He was inducted into the PGA of America Hall of Fame in 2011 and was given the GCAA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.

Outside of the PGA, he has served as a member of the national advisory council for the Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital, as Representative at-Large for the GCAA National Advisory Board, and as chairman of the Arnold Palmer Cup. In his work with the Arnold Palmer Cup, he was instrumental in developing the tournament in many different ways, including the change to include both men and women college golfers in the competition starting in 2018.

We recently spoke with Jim about his time in golf and the Arnold Palmer Cup.

1. The Arnold Palmer Cup, often referred to as the collegiate version of the Ryder Cup, just celebrated its first 20 years with the 2017 matches at Atlanta Athletic Club. As the Arnold Palmer Cup Tournament Chairman since 2012, how did you get involved with the event? What about the matches made you want to get involved?

Gregg Grost (GCAA CEO) called asking if I would get involved in the Arnold Palmer Cup and honestly I was not all that familiar with the event. After researching the event, I saw a similarity to the Ryder Cup and felt my experience might be beneficial to the Golf Coaches Association of America and the Arnold Palmer Cup.

2. Your golf resume checks all the boxes as a former college player and coach, PGA Tour player, longtime PGA Member and eventually the CEO of the PGA of America. Your direct involvement with the Ryder Cup as it grew from a little-known international match to the worldwide spectacle that it is today is well-known in the golf world.

What similarities and differences do you see between the two events at the same time in their history? Compare the elite college players of today with the leading professionals of twenty or twenty-five years ago.

Competitively there is a big difference. The Europeans won for the first time on U.S. soil in 1987 at Murifield Village with Jack Nicklaus as its captain. The competitive side of the Arnold Palmer Cup has been virtually even. Through the years, America had dominated the Ryder Cup and it was taken for granted the U.S. would win. America began to rally around the Ryder Cup when we lost at Muirfield Village and international television followed.

3. Today’s college players never saw Arnold Palmer play a competitive round in person. Their knowledge of his career and what he came to mean to the game comes primarily from the Golf Channel and those individuals who knew him well.

Sharing the Arnold Palmer legacy with the players, coaches and even their junior caddies is a significant part of the matches. Share with us your thoughts on how this fits into the event and how and why it is so important both for today and future generations.

In my mind, Arnold Palmer was a primary reason for the tremendous growth of the game beginning in the 1950s. His style of play, his demeanor on the course, his love for the game, his infectious smile, his never give up attitude, his giving back to his community and finally his willingness to sign a legible autograph for anyone caught the attention of television and as the saying goes, the rest is history. If only a few of today’s college players adopt Arnold Palmer’s attitude, they can change the game and again stimulate new growth.

4. With the 2017 matches now behind us, the Arnold Palmer Cup format will significantly change next year. Beginning in 1997 at Bay Hill, the matches were contested by teams of college players from the USA and Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I). In 2003, the format changed with Europe replacing GB&I. In 2018, the format will again change with the inclusion of women collegians and mixed competition.

Additionally, the teams will expand in size and be contested between the USA and an International team. You have been very involved in the evolution of the matches and particularly with the new format. Help us understand the thinking behind the changes and how you see this from the perspective of perpetuating the Arnold Palmer Legacy.

There is a strong focus around the world on the game of golf and both the R&A and the USGA are investing resources in further developing the game. The addition of golf in the Olympics is providing additional funding to emerging countries.

I believe the new format will create significant worldwide attention on the event and the high quality of collegiate golfers. As with the Ryder Cup in the 1950s, I believe it is inevitable that television will follow. The world will come to realize that these Arnold Palmer Cup players are the future Ryder Cup, President’s Cup, and Solheim Cup stars, as well as future leaders of the game.

5. A mixed elite international match featuring young people from around the world is a brand-new concept for the game. What are your hopes for this event going forward? Can it help change/grow the game around the world?

For the first time in an international golfing event, men and women will be a part of the same team. There will be mixed competition in foursome and four ball and we will see men and women play as teammates representing college players from around the world.

6. Finally, what is your most fond memory of the Arnold Palmer Cup since you have been involved?

I fell in love with the high quality of college players from the first day I saw them. They truly were expressing the attributes of Arnold Palmer without knowing it and they have the ability to change and grow the game around the world as Arnold once did.